What Biometrics Means for Your Business

03 Oct What Biometrics Means for Your Business

It may finally be time to forget the name of your mother’s first pet. With updates in biometrics, payments technology is changing dramatically.

In a recent survey, sixty-eight percent of respondents said they won’t finish setting up an online account because of complex password requirements, while 55 percent abandon a login page because they forgot their passwords or answered a security question incorrectly.

So say goodbye to password or PIN amnesia, because new methods of authentication are coming very soon.

Let’s look at why customers prefer biometrics, and what you can do to honor their preferences.

New Security Developments

Biometrics is technology and scientific authentication based on biology. It can replace ID cards, PINs, passwords, or tokens. Examples include digital fingerprinting, facial identification, voice recognition, and iris technology. According to the “Businesses Should Begin Preparing for the Death of the Password” report, traditional passwords are currently widely used, but experts predict they’ll be obsolete in the next 10 years. According to securitymagazine.com, 52 percent of consumers would choose anything but a traditional username and password account registration when given the option.

“Within the next 10 years, traditional passwords will be dead as an authentication form,” said Patrick Salyer, CEO of Gigya. “Consumer-focused brands require modern customer identity management infrastructures that support newer, more secure authentication methods, such as biometrics. Businesses that are already using advanced authentication methods demonstrate increased customer registration and engagement while enjoying greater login convenience and security.”

Early Adaption

Biometrics may still be a couple years away from full adoption in the U.S., but the technology is gaining ground. Ever AI is a facial recognition company that partners with businesses to implement practical facial recognition solutions. The company’s CRO, Doug Aley, said that facial recognition could soon become a step in the security process at some companies.

Aley said companies can install cameras in the ceiling of building lobbies that read the faces of workers as they walk through to their offices.

The cameras “can see people coming from a distance and authenticate them on the way in,” he said. “That’s usually coupled with somebody that’s looking at the people going by and pulling out the people that aren’t in the system.”

He also talked about other use cases that he thinks will emerge in the future. In one scenario, a customer who opts-in to a program with a favorite coffee shop can get a personalized customer service experience thanks to an integration between facial recognition software and a business’s POS system.

“We look at a future where I can go into a store where I’ve opted in … [and] the point-of-sale machine recognizes me and tells the clerk behind the desk, ‘Hey, this is Doug. He likes a latte.’ Then I can be greeted with, ‘Hi Doug, would you like your latte today?'”

Doug said biometrics can help mirror the personalized web experiences consumers have with personalized business experiences in the physical world.

“That kind of level of personalization, and then being able to follow through with that transaction with an actual payment mechanism that’s on file for me, is a much smoother transaction,” he said. “I don’t have to carry my wallet around; I don’t even have to carry my phone around.

Do You Need to Change Your Practices?

“People choose convenience over security,” Mikhail Gofman, Professor at California State University, Fullerton, and an expert on multimodal biometrics, told TechCrunch. “People are relieved of the responsibility of designing and remembering a strong password — you don’t have to remember your fingerprint, it’s a part of who you are.”

By incorporating biometrics, you can create a more personalized experience for your clients. It will help with other processes too, such as age verification for example. Soon, biometrics might combine things like event ticketing, payment and identification in one step.

Biometric technology will change the way you do business, especially for e-commerce sites. Make sure your credit card and payment processor is helping you develop these technologies so you can engage better with customers, and grow your business!

BASYS Processing as a business partner

Does your current processor help you understand the ins and outs of the process? Do they provide great rates and excellent customer service? Do they keep you up-to-date on business trends and innovations? Let’s talk about creating a true business partnership that will help you meet and exceed your goals for accepting credit cards and other payments. We make accepting debit cards and credit cards convenient, safe & affordable.

About BASYS Processing

BASYS Processing provides credit card and debit card processing services, and solutions that include terminals, virtual terminals, e-commerce, mobile, and point-of-sale, customized to fit any need. Banks, associations, and software partners depend on us to strengthen their reputations and relationships with their customers by providing remarkable service paired with ultimate flexibility and pricing. Merchants depend on us to make accepting credit cards and debit cards convenient, safe & affordable. BASYS was founded in 2002 on one philosophy: to take care of our merchants, partners, and employees so they never want to leave. We are dedicated to working one-on-one with our customers to design the perfect solution. BASYS is Personalized Payment Processing.